Imagination vs. Reality

Have you ever thought something and then spent hours perhaps days finding all kinds of confirmation that the thing (usually bad) was true– only to find out it was all in your imagination?

Several years ago, I thought a friend was mad at me. My “evidence” was that she had not contacted me in several days. We usually conversed regularly and I had contacted her last. Days went by and my doubts about the quality of our relationship grew. Did I call her to see what was going on? No. Did I text or e-mail her? No. Did I think about it until I made myself feel miserable? Of course!

When I couldn’t stand it anymore I finally called. Guess what? She was sick! Further, she was upset that I had never contacted her to see why she hadn’t contacted me! She thought I must not have cared! This is what happens when we live in our heads rather than checking things out.

We can do the same in our faith life. We can imagine, for example, that God is mad or at least disgusted with us because we are struggling with something. We can spend hours, days, even years imagining that God doesn’t exist. We can also make ourselves afraid that when we die He will judge us terribly. This, even as we say, ‘God the Just Judge is merciful.’ That statement, by the way, is not about us being horribly bad and needing lots of mercy. It’s a statement about God; who He is. We tend to interpret things to mean something personal about us. Sometimes it’s just not about us!

Look away from fear and insecurities and check out the gifts God has given us: nature, moon and stars, family and friends, and Himself in Eucharist. Come out of your imagination and looked to these things! Say, thank you! God is good!